the big stories for monday, this september 27th, including a rhysty landing. take a look at them flying. cell phone video giving us a front row seat. heavy machinery grinding into disputing soil. israel restarting construction today. if it's tried and fast, it's usually fattening. cnn begins a focus on american's killer diet. we call the series, "eatocracy."

>> there foods in fast food restaurants that are good for you. >> how about that. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com extreme fear of an impending crash followed by relief after the pilot brings the plane down safely. it was caught on video by the passengers themselves aboard delta airlines flight 4951 this weekend. >> brace for impact. >> stay down! stay down! stay down! stay down! stay down! >> kept their heads down then got them up and clapped. the pilot made an emergency landing because the right rear landing gear was stuck. josh levs been following the

details. >> two sides to it. the relief, then the invest about why did that go wrong. let's start with what happened. you had 64 people on the plane. took off from atlanta. supposed to go to white plains. made the emergency landing at jfk. 60 passengers on board with four crew. a few of the passengers spoke with us this morning. >> said, we're going to be making an emergency landing. didn't have too many details, except no landing gear. we're envisioning belly slide, but they came out and said it's the right rear landing gear, so it would be hitting the wing. >> what did it feel like to land? >> landing was actually quite smooth. the pilot did a wonderful job. we came down and the plane tipped slightly and sparks came out. you guys saw the video. it was pretty intense, but they did a wonderful job. >> that is impressive. think about what he just said.

don't have the landing gear on one side, so you got a wing scraping against the ground and the passenger still says it was smooth. we have sound from the pilot. listen to this piece right here -- that is from website that provides sound between pilots and air traffic control. you can imagine not everyone was as relaxed as the two guys earlier. they told a story about one woman, listen to this. >> i saw the lady in front of me with tears coming down. she was holding her husband's hand. once the flight attendants were

reading out instructions about emergency landing, a woman behind me was saying, i can't get it, it's stuck. i said, we don't need that right now, listen to instructions and try to remain calm. >> let's take another look at this piece of video. what you're able to see is some of the sparks. you hear a flight attendant saying, heads down. the sparks you are seeing are the ones just being described when that wing is is rubbing against the ground. boom. sparks flying. obviously, after that, people are really relieved. we know that they had a sense that maybe something was up because we were told they had been circling for a while and then found out what was going on. everyone's doing okay. everyone's fine. in a sense, everyone's breathing a sigh of relief. we want to hear from you. your stories about scary flights that you may have experienced in

the past. what happened. get in touch with us. you can use any of my pages. i'm on facebook and twitter. let us know what you've been through and we will share those stories in the news room and drew, the investigation is ongoing. big piece of machinery, mechanical failures happen, but when it does, we want to know why. >> couple of hero there. the guy who designed that plane, it didn't tear apart. great landing. we're going to stay with air travel here, josh. confirmation coming that southwest airline is going to buy airtran. it could impact what you pay to fly. christine romans following this big story in new york. why the merger now? >> there was another merger of continental and united. you have an economy starting to come back and the airlines trying to figure out how to take

advantage of that. southwest will by airtran. the deal is about 1.4 billion. about 3 billion including debt in some parts. it gives southwest access to airtran's atlanta, boston, new york city markets and that allows southwest to grow. southwest in a call this morning said that the logo, the southwest name will be what this new carrier will be. it will absorb airtran. what that means for the traveling public who pay fees for baggage, it means you will not pay those fees. southwest has the least burdensome of all the airline's fees. it does not charge for bags. airtran is absorbed, you will no longer pay those fees. until that deal is done, each company will keep its policies, but when that deal is done, it

will be southwest, logo and operating policies. >> two money issues to talk about here. usually consumer advocates fight mergers. don't answer it, is that likely to happen with southwest and number two, places like here in atlanta, maybe the fares will go down? >> that's the big question. when you have the public starting to fly again and there's more demand, that's what they're trying to grab ahold of. the very near term, you're going to see probably fewer fees because as i said, southwest is the least of the fee charging airlines and i want to show you flying costly skies for example, we talk about air fares and many say they'll probably be going up over the next year, but it's these other fees. $23 million a day we paid in fees in the second quarter.

american has the top fees. 300 bucks just to change a ticket. u.s. air ways, it is the top fee for talking to a person on the phone. $35. united holds the record for the preferred seat fee. for an extra five inches, cost you $159. >> that has always amazed me. good to have you back. thanks. we'll bring you more on the merger in the next hour. we'll talk to the ceo of bestfares.com. he'll have important information to pass along to you. other big stories we're watching. this is a levy along the wisconsin river. it's in danger of collapse. water started leaking out yesterday into this neighborhood. 100 families warned to evacuate. the only road in or out of the neighborhood now closed.

the pastor of a georgia megachurch voes to fight allegations of sexual misconduct. he was telling cheering worshippers he's going to defend himself against lawsuits from four young men claiming that long used his position to coerce them into gay sex. >> but i am not the man that's being portrayed on the television. that's not me. that is not me. nato defending a weekend air raid that it says killed 49 people. two nato helicopters crossed into pakistani air space from afghanistan's province after militants fired on a security post. the u.s. usually sends unmanned drones to bomb insurgents. it does not publicly acknowledge

those raids. is fast food really good food made quickly or is every mouthful a potential health hazard? we'll hear from a heart expert. markets have been open now more than an hour and a half. he dow down 21.27. we'll have more right after the break. s. and aleve was proven to work better on pain than tylenol 8 hour. so why am i still thinking about this? how are you? good, how are you? [ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. i've been looking at the numbers, and i think our campus is spending too much money on printing. i'd like to put you in charge of cutting costs. calm down. i know that it is not your job. what i'm saying... excuse me? alright, fine. no, you don't have to do it. ok? [ male announcer ] notre dame knows it's better for xerox to control its printing costs. so they can focus on winning on and off the field. [ manager ] are you sure i can't talk -- ok, no, i get it.

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cnn taking a cross-country food journey all this week, we've sent reporting teams to every corner of america. even beyond. our mission to get fresh answers about how our food is grown, how the choices we make impact our health, our state of mind, our budgets and the pure joy of eating. we've teamed up with eatocracy.com to bring you eatocracy, mind, body and wallet. fast food, cheap and convenient. but each bite may be loaded with k calories, sugar and fat. are there options?

>> reporter: we lead busy lives in america. chances are that once in a while r you have to eat on the run. in america, that means fast food. we brought in dr. allen dollar from emory university. this is a place where millions of americans eat every day because we have to. so, how do you do it? can you do it and be healthy? >> absolutely. there are foods within fast food restaurants that are good for you. you can look for fresh fruit. salads. >> reporter: when you talk aboutabout salads, what about the fried chicken? >> bigger problem is the dressing. ask for the locw calorie versio. >> the amount of fat and type of fat in poultry is healthier, but a lot of these choices have to

do with the number of calories. if you're going to get a hamburger, you may want to leave off half of the bun. >> and french fries. >> they're one of those foods with a lot of calories and not a lot of nutritional value. >> what about what you drink? >> my wrul of them is that in general, most of your beverages should not have calories. you can make choices for a diet soda, but regular sodas are loaded with sugar. as are juices. look for things that are less processed. >> this may seem like comfort food, but it's going to feel uncomfortable if you end up with extra pounds and health problems. >> next hour, organic foods. the best way to eat healthy. you know it doesn't come cheap.

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west bank today. that's important because palestinians said any chance of peace talks would end if that began. but they have not bolted just yet. paula hancock live in jerusalem. good morning. >> hello, drew. what the palestinians have done through their president is deferred this decision for another week. now, as you say, they had said if the settlement construction continues, we'll walk away. the settlement construction is continuing. cnn has seen it with its own eyes this monday. the bulldozers are out. they're breaking ground for new houses. but now, the palestinian president is saying let's defer this decision. he doesn't want to make a rash decision. we know that the arab league the meeting next week. he'll meet and he really is doing this so he can have the support of the arab countries behind him so it's not just him if he does decide to walk away. neither the palestinians or israelis want to be the ones blamed if the talks don't manage

to last months. they started on september 2nd. we heard from benjamin netanyahu on this sunday evening after this didn't extend, 6:00 p.m. eastern time. he didn't mention the word settleme settlement. he said he hopes the talks will go on. it is going to be a tense few days. we are seeing building continuing. it is also a jewish holiday. later in the week, beginning of next week, we could see intensive building, which could make it difficult for the palestinian president to stay at these talks without losing faith. >> just a little analysis here. you've been covering this story for so long from both sides. is this being set up for another disaster, another stalemate where both sides are just going to walk away or do you see any difference this time around in trying to not actually start the talks, but keep them going? >> well, the difference this

time around is that we are seeing some incredible u.s. support very early on in a presidency and the fact is, u.s. diplomats have told cnn they are working around the clock and behind the scenes to try and keep both sides at the negotiating table. the u.s. president, barack obama, has put in a lot of foreign policy credibility into this into these talks. a lot is riding on these talks. it would be hugely embarrassing if the talks collapse before one month has gone. there was huge skepticism here on the ground and many will be saying, i told you so. even more worrying than that, when talks fail, we often see an uptick in violence, so certainly the u.s. is doing everything it can to keep both sides at the negotiating table and we are hearing at this point nothing definnive from the isiah prime minister. >> paula hancocks live from

jerusalem. thanks, paula. our top stories now, passengers' cell phones capturing this scary emergency landing at new york's jfk airport. a delta jet, the wings scraping the runway. landing gear failed, but no injuries experts say the crew did everything right. in chile, a custom made rescue capsule has arrived at the site where miners remain trapped. it's equipped with a micro phone and oxygen tanks for the ride to the surface. that the not expected to happen until december. a protester get as little too close to senator john mccain. security jumps in. the woman goes down, but doesn't miss a beat. she kept on chanting, john mccain has got to go. ♪ you're the one

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a potential disaster in the midwest after a week of heavy rain, a levy along the wisconsin river has started to crumble. about 100 homes in the town of portage already flooding. if the levy collapses, many more homes could be in danger. all of that depending on the weather. this levy is kind of old.

>> it's over 100 years old. this is the wisconsin river. flows this way. just south of portage and the area of concern is right in there here and this neighborhood which is already seeing flooding and will see more as this levy continues to fail. we haven't seen a complete failure of it, but they're wor aried about that. the green area here should be okay. they are worried and they're going to deal with this until the river goes completely below flood stage which according to this isn't going to be wednesday or thursday. so pretty intense pressure. we have issues across parts of central and southern minnesota and all this flood waters are flowing into the mississippi and we may have issues around la crosse. meanwhile, the rain has pushed to the east and we're seeing heavy rain in parts of south georgia. this is filtering towards the

north and east and will be with us for some quite time. the overall weather pattern, moisture from the south and flood watches in the carolinas and virginia. two to four impbls of rain possible. here is the computer model for the low country, the carolinas. the white indicating as much six inches of rain total. then we have worries with the tropics. friends who live out west, you saw record-breaking temperatures across parts of the southwest. it's going to be hot again today, so we may see some issues as far as fire dangers. we have some action across northwestern caribbean. matthew is not really there, but we're worried about what could spawn from that and drift towards florida and the east coast. magically popped up. as i gave the obvious cue.

this area, this is matthew back through here, which is just going to continue to give folks a lot of thunderstorm activity. then another area of low pressure here which the national hurricane center is thinking this could develop and drift that way. so obviously, all eyes on that for southern florida especially. >> looks like a spirl wheel. want to talk to you about the war in afghanistan. an all out offensive to stop a book from going public about it. we'll tell you details and get answers from the pentagon after this.

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10,000 copies of a war mem or paid for by the pentagon, then destroyed. barbara starr has this report. >> this is the book in question. "operation dark heart." the pentagon destroyed 10,000 copies of the first run of this book. this is how a second edition. you can buy it, but if you do, there will be this. blacked out passages page after page in the book. the pentagon's saying it had to black this out because the book contained classified information.

now, lieutenant colonel schafer says he did submit the manu script and it was approved, but once it got to higher authorities, they believed that much of the information in the book could be problematic and had to be blacked out. certain passages, certain facts. some of it very sensitive. some fairly innocuous such as the name of the training facility in virginia. here is more of what he had to say. >> there are some things the army felt, i just took them out. no argument. if they felt it was sensitive, it's out. that process was completed by january of this year and from there, after i received written permission, the written documents went to the publisher and we moved forward. >> but of course, there still may be copies of the first run out there in today's cyber world, it's hard to destroy and stop the flow of information

permanently. barbara starr, cnn, the pentagon. american soldiers sent to afghanistan to secure the country. now, accused of killing for sport on the front lines. 12 u.s. army infantry men are accused. three afghan civilians are dead and the military is now trying to explain how a rogue band of american soldiers smoked hash at night and are accused of killing by sport for day. cnn has obtained tapes of the soldiers involved. you'll hear these chilling conversations at the top of the hour. also, recruiting black missionaries to serve in their own communities. it's speedy alka-seltzer. alka-seltzer plus. rushes relief for all-over, achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus.

when you think missionaries, you may think of people working in third world country, but in the recession, the need for domestic missionaries is growing. soledad o'brien introduces us to a man who's rallying to serve his community. >> i'm the jackie robinson of missions, you know. >> reporter: leroy barber is a man with a calling and he's the president of mission year. >> we do not see through our eyes or hear through our years.

>> reporter: it's a volunteer program for christian young adults in the united states. >> there is a goal for people to come to know jesus. probably another strong goal of things are not right in the world. and i want to be a part of making them right. >> reporter: how many african-americans are involved in mission years missionary work? >> about 5% a year. i don't think it's good for a kid growing up in an urban neighborhood only to see whis faces coming to serve. >> this is where i'm staying right now. >> reporter: 22-year-old harold boyd left his chicago home to spend is year in atlanta. he lives on $12,000 he has to raise himself. >> i do believe that with every relationship that i build, that i'll be showing people that i'm in the same struggle as you are. >> i don't have all the answers. >> reporter: he's the only minority on his team. it's not surprising when you

consider the vast majority of missionaries are white. >> in terms of the missionary percentage of african-americans, it's far less than 1%. >> reporter: jim sutherland studies missionary work and black churches. >> they do ta fairly good job of taking care of their communities, but the vocation is essentially off the radar. >> reporter: why so few african-americans involved in missionary work? >> the way missions is traditional done, you raise support to do it and -- >> reporter: money. >> tick taking a year off, this means not working. not earning an income. >> reporter: for many african-american, it's difficult to make this financial sacrifice, especially during a recession. for harold boyd, it's worth the sacrifice. >> what really inspired me, with the work of missions being able to see what's out there and see

what people need -- here, have it. but i'm called to serve here. i'm going to serve. >> reporter: solidad o'brien, atlanta. don't miss soledad o'brien's special report, fighting a financial crisis in the pulpit. a black in america special coming thursday, october 21th, 9:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. sorry i'm late fellas.

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t adwiwiout food al t our top stories now, a merger between southwest airlines and airtran is in the works. the deal could bring southwest to atlanta, boston, new york. pending approval by stockholders. a 120-year-old sand levy along the wisconsin river is failing. about 100 families have been warned to evacuate. and drive through flu shots

being offered at new york's orchard park. flu shots. we're already talking about the flu, but you've still got hurricanes to discuss. >> got a cold. feeling better today. i was reading the new flood warning issued for portage. this gauge has been updated as well. looks like it hasn't crested. now we're at 20.5 feet. expected to do like a secondary crest here tomorrow morning. basically, it's going to hover right around 20, 20.5 feet through today and tomorrow and until tomorrow morning and then it will begin to subside and recede around thursday morning going below food stage. they're worried because this levy, which is over 100 years old, is failing in some spots and this neighborhood down to

the south certainly in jeopardy. we do think the levy here, the northern shore where most of downtown portage is, should be okay. the fact that this river is getting a bit of a secondary crest tonight and tomorrow morning, that's got those folks worried. there's other counties including parts of southern minnesota experiencing flooding and those swollen rivers. where are we going to see more flooding? parts of the carolinas, this is heavy rain in spots. maybe as much as five inches. west coast, i want to show you what's going on in l.a. we have about red flag warning in effect. we've had record breaking temperatures. those santa ana winds have been blowing and for that reason, we have the red flag warning in effect. 113 degrees in palm springs.

not quite as hot today. but it will be on the warm side. last couple of frame, you mentioned a swirl. it is looking more active here. also, what's left over of matthew, all this may drift north and get up into the east coast and poeshly florida over the next few days. >> thanks. cnn equals politics. you know that. it's time for our update and today, we're happy to have ed henry. he's live at the white house from his perch, watching what's going on in the administration and everything that's crossing your wires. right, ed? >> that's right. huge week for rahm emanuel. a lot of people wondering if he'll stay or go. the smart money is that he will announce, i'm hearing as soon as the end of this week or next week. it depends on when congress finishes up. but hot on the ticker is that if rahm emanuel runs for mayor,

he'll do it without the backing of dirk durbin, the number two democrat in the senate, basically telling candy crowley that he will not. president obama had an interview where he all but endorsed rahm emanuel, saying he would make a great mayor, then he decided to take a shot at house republicans and their new pledge to america. this 21-page document, the president calling it a continuation of quote, irresponsible qualities. he's going to be hitting four campaign states starting in new mexico tonight. finally, bad news for charlie crist. the governor of florida running as independent for senate. new poll out has him trailing ma marco rubio. kendrick meek is up to 23%.

still a distant third. this is bad news for the white house because the had been hoping if meek did not win, that maybe charlie crist would win and then align himself with democrats after the election. vote for some of the president's programs et cetera, but right now, it's looking break for crist. >> and rahm emanuel jumping in early. everyone thought he would wait. everyone's trying to be the mayor of chicago. lot of people thought you're right, he could wait until after the election. problem is he's staring at a lot of elections. first of all, november the 22nd. he's got the get the right number of signatures. all of this is moving so rapidly that you should expect an announcement in days. >> your next political update in an hour. for the latest, you know where to to go. cnnpolitics.com. [ male announcer ] this rock has never stood still.

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fix our schools, those three words driving much of what you see on cnn during this hour

because america's children returning to school, cnn has a mission to document the education crisis. most importantly, shining a light on success stories that can empower our children to get so much more than what they're getting now and president obama is also focuses on the nation's students. he hosts a conference call with student journalists. the president will discuss steps his administration is taking to address issues important to young americans. one of his top priorities is supporting teachers. >> there is nothing more important than teaching. i genuinely believe this. i don't know a teacher who can't look back and say, you know what, here are so many lives that i've touched, so many people who i've had influence over. each of us have memories of a great teacher who steered us in the right direction. if they go into teaching, they can stay into teaching, they can afford it, which means we've got

to raise teacher pay generally. we want to professalize it, so if you get to be a master teacher, you can make more money. that's true to have any profession. we've got to make sure they've got a structure around them in which they can succeed. >> in a country children are encouraged to learn and perform their way to a brighter future through an educational circus. a visit under the big top. >> reporter: 14-year-olds competing in kabul. a prelude to a future that will have her juggling challenges, not balls. >> translator: i was scared. i was so scared, she says. i kept thinking, i'm going to drop them, but i have to win. and she did. many parents credit the afghan educational children's circus with helping their kids gain confidence while having some fun. but this is no ordinary circus.

kids also learn practical lessons in life here, like hygiene and identifying land mines. something very rare to see in afghanistan are children who are happy. children smiling, but here at the circus you see those smiles. you see those cheers. you see that happiness, and you see children just being children. hundreds of kids have trained here and the founder says nearly 1 million enjoyed watching them perform. she started coming here at the age of 6, and now hopes to teach the younger kids the tricks of the circus and to life. >> translator: they have to know that when they see something that will make them happy and wish they could do it, too, she says, they have to just do it. >> reporter: this is a moment of recreation for kids who have little else to look forward to, and in a country ravaged by war and poverty. the founder is a danish man who came to afghanistan in 2002. there are reports that he once

lived with the mahajadine. he won't talk about that. he's rather focus on the kids. >> work on the circus, for circus, how is great thing than anything else. >> reporter: in the winter children come and start to practice, but it's in the summer that they start to perform. >> come the very first days. they're very conservative and it takes them like couple of days, three weeks and then you see how much self-confidence. singing classes, all this has made. >> reporter: he says the key to afghanistan's future is putting opportunities like this in the children's hands. >> those have been, adults think ignorance, know everything and want to teach the kids, but if you're open to the music it is all there. just ask them. they have all the resources. they can do it all. >> reporter: it's here where

kids don't worry about war, poverty and politics. instead, they are jumping, juggling and swinging their way to what they hope is a brighter future. for cnn, kabul. there's another airline merger in the works. what the marriage of southwest and airtran could mean for your flying future. our travel expert will break it down in the next hour of "cnn newsroom." plus -- jishgs shocking news from the front lines. u.s. soldiers accused now of killing unarmed afghan civilians for sport. you'll hear soldier's describe what happened. it's a cnn exclusive. pam you want some fiber one honey clusters?

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man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea. not a huge day on the dow

now. down about 30.62 points at this time, but it is monday and it is a merger monday. talking about corporate deals totaling about $9 billion. could be a sign that is good for the economy. alison kosik on the floor with detail. we've heard about mergers in the past. what does this mean now? >> well, it's really good news when you see wall street making deals again, drew. you know, merger activity actually has risen every quarter of this year, and the amount of money i'm talking about, about $1.7 trillion just with the deals this year. thompson reuters says it's seeing the m & a, mergers and acquisitions globally picking up 21% more than last year. great news when it comes to the wheels of the economy moving forward and we're seeing a lot of these deals happening today. walmart bid $4 billion for south african retailer mass mart and

unilever buying v05, and alberto makes tress may and v05. southwest buying airtran for $1.4 billion. a lot of dealmaking going on just today. drew? >> we've been hearing the president and others talk about the fact a lot of these companies have been sitting on their cash, an the companies have said, look, we don't know which direction this economy is going so we want to hold cash. i'm trying to read the tea leaves with you here, alison. are we seeing the cash loosen up because the economy's getting better? >> exactly what we're seeing and that also is really good news, because as you said, ate of these companies have been sitting on a lot of money. call it their cash reserves during the recession. and now they're finally parting with it. they're investing it, showing confidence in the economy, willing to take a risk. i mean, think about it. before the -- during the recession they weren't spending at all, weren't invefding.

we're seeing first signs of stabilization and mergers and acquisition actually putting their money on the line showing companies are willing to take a risk. that's the first sign in the economy moving forward because that brings confidence to the market again. drew? >> also's coaison kosik, thanks. keep us posted. i'm drew griffith in for tony harris. some of the people behind today's top stories. residents in wisconsin being told to leave their homes after a levee fails. the latest on the conditions there developing. another airline merger in the works. has will it mean for you the next time you want to book a flight? talking airtran and southwest. and you're online now and we are, too. josh following what's hot. josh? >> drew, the owner of segway died in an apparent accident in a segway vehicle. all the details right here on cnn.com. get started with our lead story -- it is a disturbing story involving u.s. troops in afghanistan. charges alleging a rogue group

of hashish smoking u.s. soldiers killed afghan civilians for sport, posed with their dead bodies and collected human bones as souvenirs. the facts laid out by the soldiers themselves. cnn obtained the interrogation tapes of four of the soldiers involved. the u.s. military charged five soldiers with premeditated murder. seven more face charges of cover-up in the killings and illegal drug use. all of them members of the 5th combat stryker brigade stationed in washington. one scheduled to face his article 32 court-martial. on the tape you're about to see and hear, jeremy morelock details how on patrol earlier this year and under command of staff sergeant kalvin gibbs also accused he and others took an afghan man from his home, stood him up and killed him. >> we had this guy by his

compound. so we walked him out and sat him in place. okay, stand here. >> he was fully cooperating. >> yes. >> was he armed? >> no. not that we were aware of. >> he was -- inside, kinds of by his -- he said [ bleep ], far side security pip i don't even know what the [ bleep ] was going on. >> okay. i understand. >> and then -- stand next to the wall. like, behind cover an the grenade went off and you wouldn't feel a lot. -- for this guy and you know, he pull out one of his grenades. american grenade, you know,

popped it. throws the grenade and -- >> did you see him present weapons or was he aggressive at you at all? did he? >> no, not at all. >> okay. >> he wasn't a threat. >> michael bottington is the corporal's kwicivilian attorney >> i want you to tell me that this didn't happen. that this isn't true. can you? >> that three people were not killed? >> reporter: that members of the u.s. military didn't go out and three afghan civilians were killed for sport. >> you have -- you have the -- from what i understand the case file. you know what the witnesses in that file say, and what they say in their videos, but i -- that's

what it sounds like. >> what the army says happened according to the filing papers three civilians killed between january and may of this year. morelock's attorney says his defense will lay out a scenario where his 22-year-old client was brain damaged from prior ied attacks, was heavily using prescription drugs and smoking hash. and was under the influence and even feared his commanding staff sergeant, staff sergeant gibbs. his attorney is not returning calls to cnn. others involved and charged also pointed their fear of calvin gibbs and admits something else. smoking hash laced with opium almost on a daily basis. for example, this interrogation tape you're about to see, charged with trying to interfere with a military investigation and drug abuse. >> how long did the drug use continue? >> the smoking hashish? >> hashish, yeah. >> probably up until about a

week and a half ago. >> all the way from the beginning of the deployment until now? >> yeah. >> stressful days, days that was just needed an escape? >> the pentagon will not comment on this case beyond the charges filed against these soldiers but cnn also learned the soldiers took photographs, described to us as looking like hunting trophies with their kills. and the pentagon has ordered any attorney involved in this case to return those photographs to military investigators. as we told you, corporal jeremy morelock the first to answer charges. his article 32 about to get under way we're monitoring this case and we're joined from ft. lewis. courtney what is happening? >> reporter: hi, drew. today's court proceedings is going it look at corporal

morelock. an investigating officer will look at the evidence and recommend whether the case should go to court-martial. the hearing is scheduled to last just one day. >> from ft. lewis, washington. thanks. a much bigger story to tell here pap story of how higher ups in afghanistan had no idea this group of soldiers in the 5th striker combat brigade was smoking hash almost daily and even bragging about the killings they were conducting on patrol without any superior officers knowing about this. we'll continue to follow this story both today and throughout the coming weeks. well, a levee failure along the wisconsin river, an entire neighborhood in the town of portage cut off by floodwaters. many more homes downstream could be in danger. if that levee gives way. it started crumbling late yesterday. officials urged everyone living nearby to get out. >> right now it's up to be

floorboards in there. and water is knee deep right now, and it's getting higher. >> we'll talk it over, my wife and i. even though while we're standing here is plenty high, we wouldn't be able to get in and out for days on end and have to float in and out, and i'm not ready to get my boats out yet. >> of course, all ofs they depends on the weather. chad myers checking that. an old levee and the pressure already there and apparently building even as the rain has stopped. >> we talked about the rain over the weekend. they didn't get any. okay, some, but not the flooding rainfall. this rainfall affecting the levee fell upstream. why we always say, you better know where you are on a river if water falls upstream, because that water la to eventually get down into the gulf of mexico or up north, east or west, somewhere. it la to get to a lower level. this was lower than where the rain wall came in. here's portage. what the river looks like.

wisconsin river crested at least for now. we believe that happened because the levee broke. now, not the portage levee. on the north side of the river, that would be affecting portage itself. but the southern levee on the south side of the river, maybe some good news for the residents of portage, because of a little bit of release of water, releasing pressure on the northern levee. we're going to find out right from the mayor. mayor ken john with us now from portage. mr. mayor what can you tell us about what's going on in your city and also in your areas to the south of the river? >> okay. the area -- the area south of the river on the levee, the levee hasn't broke yet. it is curious, but not getting a large amount of water through it at all time. it is starting to deteriorate and get a little bigger, but that's not what's causing our issues right knew. it's basically just the height of the river we normally handle every spring. the odd part, here it is in

september. >> we've heard about boiling under what's been called a sand levee. boiling water, or water coming from the pressure of the river itself and boiling below the top of the levee with that water coming out. that's the first sign of failure. mr. mayor what are you telling people downstream of this, in case it breaks? what are you telling them? get out now? >> we've sent volunteer firemen out, gone door to door. told them it's most likely going to break. we've asked them to leave. we've set up a shelter here for them to come in, if they have no other place to go, and some people have chosen to stay and some now are deciding to leave on their own. >> we very well understand here at cnn what the word mandatory evacuation means. i'm not sure what people don't understand about the word mandatory. a lot of times they don't leave. would you tell them now this is their last chance, if this levee does break? or how much water are we really talking about in that neighborhood? >> well, this neighborhood is -- the center of that neighborhood is on the high area.

there's homes in there that even if the levee were to break would never be impacted by the flooding. impacted would be the area, how they get to the their homes. it would be probably a week or two before waters would recede and they'd be able to go the normal route. they may have to get to their home by a boat. >> talk about portage. still have water, power? >> no impact at all. everything is normal as can be right now. >> we know that the south levee is the one that we're talking about, but the north live thee protects your city proper north of the river, how is it doing? >> fine. perfect. it was rebuilt in the 1990s, fully engineered. it's doing great i. saw a report that said you will not feel out of the woods until the river goes below flood stage. there's a new forecast out now by the river forecast center that says you're going to get another brief crest in this river tomorrow morning. does that affect you at all? >> we should be okay.

we're monitoring. we're out there and we've got half the city of portage up there watching the levee on our side anyway. i think they'll tell us anything that's going on, but so far everything is good. >> is there anybody sandbagging? we didn't get to this. >> yes. we have a prison in our town and the people from the cci correctional have been sandbagging. we've got about 30 pallets of sandbags ready. we've been distributing them around the town to anybody that has been impacted, that's asked for them and a staging area where people can pick up more. >> mr. mayor, all of your best. we see this all the time. know what woor going through. ironically, i took the day off last terse, went to a building outside of tampa that they literally flood on purpose. this house is a house inside of a building, and they flood it so they can see what happens to flooding homes. how people can be safe in these homes. what's the first thing you should do? you should shut off your power. get to the circuit breaker even before the water gets to your house, because water and

electricity simply don't mix. mr. mayor, thank you very much for your time and godspeed to you and all the people there of portage. drew? >> thanks for that. well, you know, two local airlines are planning to merge. what's this going to mean for you? savings? maybe. an expert will join us in the next hour. first, though, our random moment in 90 seconds. i didn't miss a premium payment for 10 years. the minute i got sick, i lost my insurance. not anymore. america's healthcare reforms change lives for the better. to find out how it can help you, visit us at americasfairhealthcare.org progress is saving tax payers millions of dollars, with the help of visa digital currency. which lets troy reiners, manager of nebraska's child support payment center, put money into pre-paid visa accounts for just a penny...

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americasfairhealthcare.org southwest airline buying airtran airways. the deal valued at $3.4 billion. the ceo of southwest says the merger is going to allow his airline to expand in a major hub that he's been kept out of, really, atlanta, washington, boston and new york. the deal has already been approved by the board of directors of each company. now it awaits the approval of the regulators and, of course, airtran's stockholders. both the airlines are low-cost carriers serving domestic markets. how is this going to affect us? tom parsons, ceo of best shares dot com joins me from fort worth, texas. a beginning question, tom.

i thought a lot of these towns had successfully tried to keep southwest out of their airports. do they face any battles in getting these municipalities to open up or is it a done deal? >> oh, no. if there's anything, there's always been a waiting list to get southwest into their cities. it just brings low fares to everybody. as a matter of fact, when i first heard about the acquisition, the only three i could think of was, wow, and it couldn't have happened at a better time for america for one of the best low-cost airlines in the world to expand and add almost 50% more cities to their network. when you look back eve are the last ten years you've seen us airways and america west. you've seen american take up twa. you've seen delta and northwest and now continental-united. now this gives southwest the opportunity to go to over 100 u.s. cities. also the opportunity to expand to mexico and the caribbean and give us lower fares there. and i think america is going to

be very happy that now they can fly coast to coast, from between 100 u.s. cities, and make the legacy airlines be more competitive with the style of southwest and their low fees. >> you've already got your vacation shirt on ready to go. so this looks like it could be good news for consumers. how will the big carriers, though, see this? because a lot of times they've been able to compete with these low costers because they don't have as many connections and cities. right? >> well, southwest actually, some people look at southwest as a small airline. until delta-northwest did their merger, southwest was the biggest u.s. airline. they carried more u.s. passengers than any of the legacy airlines, and with this acquisition now they'll still be the king and queen of traveling more u.s. passengers than the new continental and united or the delta-northwest. they are a force to be reckoned with, and if there's anything i

think the legacy airlines did on the way to work this morning is, they emptied it their suitcase and filled them up with excedrin because they'll have a major headache dealing with this new southwest-airtran acquisition. >> do you anticipate problems from federal regulators or anybody who's going to challenge this saying that we're reducing the competition in the market? >> well, you know, when you look at southwest today, they probably compete more on routes served by the legacy than airtran. airtran is probably one of the smaller airlines they don't overlap. there is some problems like maybe in baltimore or southwest doesn't go to atlanta. they do go to florida, but overall i think south sweft super strong from the midwest to the western part of the united states, and they've just started going in large airports like new york and boston, but they shouldn't get the gate space with this acquisition, now they'll go to another controlled airport, washington national.

they'll also be able to go to new york laguardia, expanding into newark and boston. this is going to be -- i really don't see where the government's going to have too many problems with this airline aqua swigs. after merging northwest and dead ta and the continental united states. -- continental united. probably a no-brainer. >> thanks, tom. love the shirt, by the way. now let's go to wall street and see how investors are reacting. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. what are traders say about this deal between southwest and airtran? >> traders love this. investors love this deal. remember, call it coincidence, southwest ticker symbol here at the nyse is luv. airtran shares now surging 60%, because for shareholders, this is a money-making opportunity for them. they're going to get a 69% premium over friday's closing price. not a bad deal. southwest shares, they're up 10%. that's because the company says

this deal will be adding to its earnings, because what it's going to be doing is, it's going to be expanding its service from 69 cities to 100. it's going to gain access to some smaller cities as well. the ka rib yand and mexico. going to be flying in many more places than now. and saving $400 billion a year by 2013. bottom line with this deal, southwest could become an even bigger challenger to the mainline challengers because south sweft considered a discount carrier. already carried more u.s. travelers than any other airline, drew. overall for the market, wall street seems to be taking a bit of a pause, a little bit of a break after a big run-up this month. september could be the dow's best month in a year, and we're on trook have the best september since 1939. remember, drew, september's usually traditionally a really tough month here on wall street. now watching the dow jones industrial fall 22 points. the nasdaq is off about 7. drew? >> alison kosik, thanks for that

update from the stock exchange. >> sure. returning to war now. in a soldier's story we're going to follow sergeant randy shorter as he makes his way back to afghanistan for the third time.e s tdd# 1-800-345-2550 are still talking about retirement tdd# 1-800-345-2550 like it's some kind of dream. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on! tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ male announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550

check our top stories now. nato says it bombed insurgents inside pakistan over the weekend killing 49.

two nato helicopters crossed into pakistani airspace after militants attacked a security post in afghanistan. the military calls this raid self-defense. the pastor of an atlanta mega area church says he's going to fight allegations he coerced young men into sex. bishop eddie long with his wife at his side told his congregation sunday he's not giving up that pulpit. >> as i said earlier, i am not a perfect man. but this thing, i'm going to fight. [ cheers and applause ] and i want you to know one other thing. i feel like david against goliath, but i've got five rocks and i haven't thrown one yet. >> bishop eddie long, yesterday

morning. more top stories in 20 minutes.

you know, for the past year our jason carroll followed a number of soldiers on their journey from civilian to military life. from enlistment to boot camp to battlefield. recently sergeant randy shorter returned to afghanistan for a third tour's dut pip jason was with him every step of the way. take a look. >> reporter: well, drew i think there are a lot of civilians out in that might assume when a soldier is deployed their unit goes straight from the united states to the assignment overseas, but now that the troop surge is underway, it can really be a drawn-out process. one that begins with good-bye.

>> hey, sweetie. >> reporter: it's sergeants first class randy shorter's last night at home. >> hey, this is the last time -- >> reporter: his daughters aren't ready to say good-bye. before dad leaves on his third deployment to afghanistan. >> i know it's really difficult for you. >> i just don't want limb to go. >> say cheese! >> reporter: the next morning -- >> you can't explain the emotions. you know. you can't convey the feelings we were going through. it's hard to explain it. you can't put it in words. >> whether it's one week, one day. it doesn't matter. saying good-bye is hard. >> wra once you go through here, pick up your stuff. >> reporter: the first stage of check-in. all the soldiers srp pack in their hands. a soldier's readiness packet. medical, dental records, paperwork to make sure their

will it in order f. you're scared, and you should be, trust your training. trust yourselves, trust your buddy next to you. >> march! >> reporter: basically right now everyone's boarding the flight. a chartered plane, usually what the military does in these situations. does it feel more real now when you're boarding or when you finally get there? >> yeah. now. >> reporter: now. >> welcome aboard. >> comfortable guys? >> good. >> reporter: the flight takes us from fort campbell, kentucky, to shannon, ireland for refuelling. >> long. drawn out. >> reporter: hours later, more refuelling. >> taking off. >> reporter: next stop, a transit center, kyrgyzstan. >> welcome. good morning. >> find out where you're going it sleep. get your stuff secured. >> from a psychological point of view, where do you think you and the rest of the men are at this point? >> right now, we're kind of

still got the feel of home, but in a few hours these guys, you know, they'll actually put their game faces on. once they get their uniform on, it sinks in. now it's time to do business. >> reporter: on day four, since leaving the states, board a c-17 military aircraft to bagram airfield, afghanistan. >> everyone's tired but finally on our way. >> reporter: heavy fighting in the region stops the fifth leg of the trip. our flight to eastern afghanistan aborted, midair. >> we're never leaving this place. >> reporter: the last wave of the troop surge to afghanistan create as bottleneck on flights. >> waiting like this, for someone like you, on your first deployment, does that help with your nerves? does it make you more -- >> it makes me almost a little more nervous. like i said, you've got to get psyched up, and it's hard to

keep psyching and psyching yourself up. >> the longer they stay, the more stories they hear about what's going on. that builds more -- makes them more nervous, only because they don't know what to expect. >> reporter: finally a flight opens. on to our final destination. >> just a few minutes ago we arrived here, finally. so at this point, sergeant shorter is checking his men in, making sure all the paperwork is squared away. then they can finally get on with their mission. >> sounded good, finally good to get here. tired of waiting. >> reporter: the wait would not be much longer. >> ied explosion. >> reporter: shorter's mission would soon take his platoon outside the base to confront the threat of ieds. >> nothing happening down there. word is two got injured. >> reporter: we thought this was shorter's final stop. then, drew, his orders were changed. he was then proved to another forward-operating base. a much smaller one located just

a few miles away. no matter where he goes, drew will be following him every step of the way. drew? >> jason, thanks. glad you're back. the big food debate. is organic better and why does it cost so much? a taste test to tell you about. these top ten cnn heroes changed the world. who will be the cnn "hero of the year." ...authentic... ...pure... and also delicious. ♪ like nature valley. granola bars made with crunchy oats and pure honey. because natural is not only good, it also tastes good. nature valley -- 100% natural. 100% delicious.

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country food journey. all week we've sent reporting teams to every kornlt of america and beyond. why? our mission, fresh answers about how our food is grown, how the choices we make impact our health, our state of mind, our budgets and the pure joy of eating. we've teamed up with the new cnn.com food destination etocracy.com. more of us making a bee line to the organic food section these days but how does organic food stack up against the more conventional kind? john zarrella took a taste test and has this detailed report. >> reporter: look as this soil. rich in organic matter. it's perfects for growing organic products, and that's exactly what dan howard is doing back there. he's putting in his first crop of green beans. howard has seven acres here. he'll get about 1,400 bushels of beans. i imagine when farming

organically, soil preparation is pretty key? >> very important. in fact, the world of organic farming is soil building. it's a constant effort to increase the organic matter in your soil. >>. >> reporter: beans, the field was for decades an orange grove. it's filled with left behind organic matter, but it takes more than just good soil to label a product organic. >> they're getting a crop that's grown naturally without the use of chemicals, chemical fertilizers or chemical spray inputs, and that's it in a nutshell. >> reporter: dan's beans will start showing up in super markets just in time for thanksgiving, because of higher labor costs from hand weeding and restrictions on what dan can use to control pests, his beans will cost a lot more. you've got a pound and a half of beans here and 12 ounce here's.

these are $1.96 and these are $4.99. >> but these are -- it is a big difference, and that's a limitation for a lot of people to buy organic. >> reporter: we went with sonya angel a licensed dietitian to a local public supermarket. >> now in terms of nutrients, there isn't really a significant difference between the nutrients of buying organic or non-organic, but it's the fact that these are safer, because they don't have the pesticides in them. that's the big difference. >> reporter: if you want organic but budget is a limiting factor, sonya's tip, buy spinach, blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables you don't peel. >> the ones you peel, not so much important. >> like the bananas. you don't have to worry about pesticides on the bananas because you're -- >> peeling them off. >> reporter: if you're wondering about flavor, we had publix chef saute organic beans an conventionally grown beans. you should try a taste test,

too. i'll keep my opinion to myself. john zarrella, cnn, plantation, florida. and remember go to cnn.com/etock crazy for more stories on healthy eating and where you can learn more about the how to unlock the cnn healthy eater badge on four square. is somebody going to tell me what that means? taking control of your health, elizabeth cohen introduces us to parents who trusted their gut and saved their daughter's life. "than you. "10 airbags... daytime running lamps... "onstar automatic crash response. "in case ya didn't see it, that's probably why "msn autos called the cruze "the class of its class right now. that seems pretty clear, doesn't it?" the all-new chevrolet cruze. starting under $17,000. get used to more. ♪

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our top stories now. the wisconsin river could peak a second time tomorrow putting more pressure on a 120-year-old levee that's already failing or beginning to fail. we heard from the mayor. about 100 families are going to evacuate there. a merger between southwest airlines and airtran is on. the deal could bring southwest to major hubs like atlanta, washington, boston and new york. and regulators and stockholders, and hope benedict still has faith in the vatican's bank despite an ongoing money investigation. first time the bank's frozen in history.

earlier today the pope says he trusts and appreciates the work going on by the director. patients taking control of their heath care. we call it the empowered patient, and it can save lives. here's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. the first of four powerful lessons. >> reporter: drew, as a parent you can appreciate that this is every parent's nightmare. you know that your child is seriously ill, but the folks at the emergency room aren't taking you seriously. and they tell you to bring your child home. well, this happened to a family in ohio but they fought back. we teamed up with the animation people at turner studios to bring you their story. one spring evening, don mccracken was playing ball with his kids in the front yard. he meant to hit a fly ball to his son matthew, but instead it socked his 7-year-old daughter morgan on the head. he knelt to the ground in pain. morgan had quite a bump on her

head. her parents iced it down and she seemed fine. two nights later, something changed. >> she started crying. >> reporter: tell me what you heard. >> my head. it's hurting. she was holding it. my head's hurting. my head's hurting. >> reporter: the mccracken the rushed plorgen to the emergency room. >> when the doctor showed up what did he say? >> i'm sure it's late, she tired, probably a touch of the flu. >> reporter: connie and don say the doctor told them to take morgan home and put her to bed, but they knew better. their instincts told them this was no flu virus. they pushed the are doctor for a ct scan of morgan's brain. >> what did you think the results of that cat scan were going to be? >> something was definitely wrong. you could feel it in your gut. >> in my heart i thought i knew there was a problem. >> he came back, said i was surprised. i'm surprised. there's something there. >> there was a leakage of blood into her skull. >> reporter: medics rushed morgan by helicopter to nearby

rainbow babies and children's hospital in cleveland, ohio. >> this is a big blood clot inside the skull outside the brain called an epidural hematoma what we had to remove to take out the blood clot and stop the bleeding. >> reporter: today, morgan's just fine. >> do you feel like a lucky girl? >> yeah. >> reporter: lucky because her parents followed their instincts. >> in the emergency room, the doctor said she had a virus. and she just needed to get some rest. if you had listened to that, advice, and brought her home, to go to bed and rest what would have happened? >> she probably wouldn't have woken up the next morning, and we would have lost her. >> what a lesson for parents. and a lesson that you and i know as parents. these doctors, you sgee the emergency room. they look at your kid two minutes and think they know everything about them. no. we do. right? trust your gut. >> exactly. the surgeon in the piece said what they teach medical students is mother knows best, or father

knows best. parents know their kid best. so if you feel like they're not making the right call, you say something, and you fight back like these parents did. >> how do you do that delicately so you don't offend these doctors who, face it, a lot of them think they're way smarter than the parents are. but you want to encourage them to do what's right for your child? >> right. one of the things you can say, two things you can say. one is, we think it's this, because of this reason. we think that this is much more serious than you think it is. that might make them a little nervous and make them pay attention. the other thing, ask an important question that i write about in my book "the empowered patient." doctor, what else could this be? make them open their eyes and realize it could be the flu. you know what? it could also be something else. that one question, doctors tell me, can help they rejitter thinking, having a busy day and going about their business. it can make them rethink their conclusions. >> great stuff. good story. thanks. and a friendly program reminder here. "taking control of your health

care" cnn's senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen, a great report on this. it airs this saturday and sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. and topping our cnn equals politics update, rick out of the race for new york governor. live to the cnn political desk.

politics update. cnn deputy political director paul steinhauser with the best political team on television yoin joins us live from washington. paul what is crossing now? >> reporter: brand new stuff, drew. just happened in the last half hour. talk about the new york governor's race. rick lasio, republican, former congressman, just announced he was dropping his bid for governor. he got beat soundly in the primary september 14th by carl paladino backed by many in the tea party movement. lazio was also on the conservative party ticket and won that nomination. he could have run, but just announced he will not run for governor but did not, he did not, endorse paladino, interesting pap two man battle between paladino and andrew cuomo, new york state attorney general, son of mario cuomo, democratic nominee. our eyes on new york state. interesting stuff. vice president joe biden, talking about the economy at an event and soon the main

attraction at a fund-raiser for two top democrats up there. congressman paul hoegs running for the open senate seat and carol shea porter running for re-election in congress. listen, democrats have had good achievements in new hampshire but in 2010, poll suggests they could have a very tough time. let's talk about 2012 and check this out on the cnn political ticker. a brand new poll out this morning from politico and indicating that maybe a majority of people may not vote for barack obama in 2012, if he decides to run for re-election. similar results from a cnn national poll back in august as well. talking about 2010, but keeping our eyes on 2012. drew, an interesting battle for the republican nomination and interesting for barack obama if he chooses to run for re-election, which we assume he will i. was going to ask you. have you been hearing wind he's not? >> reporter: no. obviously he hasn't declared anything yet.

pretty early. the polls are hypothetical. looking forward to 2012. approve r5i9 iating, in the 40s. troubling if he decides to run again. and the next political update in an hour. for the best political news day or nite, cnnpolitics.com. a zero carbon city rising out of a desert in the dubai and what on earth could have been so funny at a parliamentary immediating in switzerland? josh levs will tell us all about it. it's hot on the internet. it's work through the grime and the muck, month. tow and pull without getting stuck month.

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i use capzasin quick relief gel. [ male announcer ] starts working on contact and at the nerve level to block pain for hours. capzasin. takes the pain out of arthritis. we like to keep you informed of what's hot. especially on the nirnt net. we have josh levs. >> talking about the world's first euro carbon city. that term gets thrown around, can that ever be the case? pulling in as much energy as you're using? it's actually happened. look at the pictures. it's going up now and there's been talk about it for a long

time in dubai, and we followed the story here at cnn, but what we're finding now is people are actually starting to move in to the world's first zero carbon city and what they do is, they have this massive solar system set up, and they're hoping when it's ultimately done, about 90% of the solar power of the power used there will be solar. there's also this wind tower that's being designed to try to help cool the area as well, and they say by facing certain directions and things are a certain size, able to maximize the shade and take awful these different strategies, put them together and ultimately get seriously zero carbon. so it pulls in energy, uses energy and comes out even and also saying they hope that it will ultimately feel 80 degrees cooler there than in the desert. it can feel like 150 degrees in dubai. saying if they do this stuff it might feel 70 degrees cooler overall, putting it at 80. a big improvement.

look, it's an experiment. we don't know what it will turn into. a good skeptic here. we'll see. it might be a way of the future. >> all right. >> the next cool thing. everyone is talking about this online. all right? look at this guy. the giggling politician. >> i'd like to -- need for -- >> tries to get through a conversation about meat imports. this is a swiss politician who is now the hottest thing online. hans redolf mertz. sme speaking about meat but can't good night get it. it's so hilarious. everyone not having any idea what he's talking about. laughing along with this guy. sounds like my uncle telling a bad joke and just can't spit it out.

>> a fun slide. i love this guy. anyway, you never know what's going to be hot online. today is that particular politician, swiss politician, making the world laugh. unintentionally doing something great for the world. thanks for that. >> thank you. thank you, josh. thank you dubai for carbon cities. light, low-fat, sugar-free. how do you know? a new online nutrition check. part our series etocracy. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking -- is it dominates your life,

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cnn taking a cross country food journey. all this week we've sent reporting teams to every corner of the u.s. and beyond, and our mission, get fresh answers about how our food is grown. how the choices we make impact our health, our state of mind, our budgets, and, of course, the pure joy of eating. we've teamed up with the new cnn.com food destination etocracy.com to bring you etocracy, mind, body and wallet. food companies spend bic bucks marketing their products as healthy, but how are consumers supposed to know whether the claims are true? cnnmoney.com's poppy harlow shows a new rating system. >> reporter: food companies inundate us with healthy sounding slogans, rediced fat, whole grain, no sugar added. that means healthier. right? not necessarily. >> the packages all have claims. the claims are often misleading and deceptive.

>> reporter: yale scientist dr. david katz created nuval. a nutrition rating system that kits through the food industry's marketing machine. >> the higher the number the more nutritious the food. gps for the food supply. >> reporter: 1 to 100 weighing unhealthy things like. >> translator: fat against nutrients like fiber. >> almost everything in this aisle above 90. between 90 and 100. reduced jiff peanut butter gets a 7 and the regular jiff peanut butter gets a 20. >> reporter: higher fat is actually better for you here according to nuval? >> not because it's higher fat. the reduced version is considerably higher in fat and sugar. >> reporter: this one i ate growing up. 26. >> yes. >> reporter: that's what this has. wait. look at this. this neapolitan ice cream says it's a 91. to me, that is the flaw in the system. >> something as the ice cream, all chemicals and additives, i

don't think really adds to the diet, and people shouldn't be getting knew tree ents through that ice cream. something like raisin bran, yes, the raisins are sugar coated bit it's a good source of fiber. >> reporter: dr. katz says the real value isn't to compare ice dream to cereal but see how similar products stack up against one another. >> okay. let's find cheerios and froot loops. >> reporter: none of the major food company wes contacteded would go on camera to discuss nuval but in a statement pepsi told us aeshgs consumers can make more informed choices through fact-based front of package labeling." general mills said "cry tia for nuval are not available to the public". >> why is there a pushback from the big food manufacturers? >> not everybody making and selling food really wants people to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. nuval tells that truth. >> reporter: junk food is big business for these big american

food companies. as the nuval system is adopted across the nation will it be the end of salty, fatty snack food? >> i certainly hope to would be the end of junk food. >> reporter: that's billions in revenues for these companies. >> but it could be billions in revenue by making boater versions ever these same foods. >> reporter: and you know what? what's really interesting about this, drew, learning about this program, shopping according to those nuvals score, you see what a threat it could be to the junk food industry. a $26 billion business every year in this country. all of that snack food we all consume, and it could really threaten the future of that industry, if this catches on. right now it's sort of in its beginning stages about 70,000 different food products have been graded, if you will, and about 750 grocery stores across the country. i'll tell you, shopping with this program works to an ex-tents. you see fruits and vegetables getting near 100. near the highest score. when you compare something like ice cream getting above 90